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There are some great outtake clips online this week from Keanu Reeves‘ documentary Side by Side, which looks at the division between shooting film and digital. The outtakes go a little further afield from that topic, however, and one of the best is an interview with Andy and Lana Wachowski — and primarily with Lana — talking about how “performance” is created in the editing room.

This is a good little primer on one aspect of filmmaking that may people easily overlook, and worth watching for that reason alone. Wachowski fans will also be interested to see this as it is one of the very few video interviews with the directors. They seem to be more willing to talk to the camera lately; we’ve had two videos with them in the past month, which is more than in the previous decade. By the time their new film Cloud Atlas hits (co-written and co-directed with Tom Tykwer) they’ll be hosting their own reality show. I’d watch that. Read More »

The technology used to make films has been changing at a rapid pace for the past twenty years. Digital video has gone from being an upstart media to a primary means for creating movies. Major companies are no longer producing new film cameras. Native 3D requires shooting on digital, but the popularity of IMAX keeps some film purists going. Companies like Kodak are experiencing tougher times than ever.

Side by Side is a documentary directed by Chris Kenneally in which Keanu Reeves (who also produced) talks about film and video with a wide variety of filmmakers, including Steven Soderbergh, James Cameron, David Lynch, Richard Linklater, Martin Scorsese, Andy & Lana Wachowski, Christopher Nolan, Walter Pfister, David Fincher and many, many more.